The New Kid
by crazysane
Summary: Murders in Chicago aren't really anything new, but this case might need more than one consultant...
1. Chapter 1

It is so damn good to be able to type again. So anyway, this is something that's been going on in my head since I got into Criminal Minds, I hope you enjoy.

It was very clear that he wasn't in charge.

In fact, it was so clear that J.J. would barely remember his name after the introductions were through. Oh, she would get it down eventually, just not right away. Besides, they had other things to worry about.

In the past two months, eight bodies had been found in various places throughout the city of Chicago, Illinois. The details, while gruesomely disturbing, all matched to a T. Healthy, attractive men and women between the ages 20 and 30, all of them had been killed by purposely induced strokes. All of them had been de-boned.

The medical examiners were furiously trying to come up with an explanation for that little detail. It wasn't impossible, but it wasn't easy either. It was something to go on though, they were fairly certain that this meant that the killer must have had extensive medical training and access to the tools of the trade. The killer was polite though; he'd replaced the bones with Styrofoam substitutes.

Other than that, they were pretty much at a dead end.

* * *

Morgan had finally figured our who was in charge. It was their second morning in Chicago and none of the team was really looking forward to it.

The entirety of the Special Investigations Unit was laced up tighter than a hooker's boot. They were a family. Each and every one of them would die for each other, and while they weren't out rightly rude, they weren't that cooperative either.

"What is up with these people?" Morgan said, trying to ignore the looks that were shooting at him from all sides.

"They don't trust us." Reid replied.

"No, it's more than that. You don't get this much distrust from cities, you get it from small towns way out in the backwoods where everyone's trying to keep the same secret."

"So, you think they've got a secret?"

"I guess," Morgan sighed and took a sip of his coffee. "Something tells me we're gonna find out about it sooner or later."

The two of them glanced at the evidence board and horrible pictures that coated it's surface.

That's when the people in charge walked in.

The air practically, no _literally, _changed as they stepped over the threshold. If it wasn't so obvious that they were the ones to talk too, it would have been funny how opposite they were.

A petite, but tough looking blonde with hard eyes that looked like they'd seen way too much, was standing in front of the tallest man that Reid and Morgan had ever seen. He was in good shape, most likely a runner. He was wearing a slightly battered leather duster, his longish black hair was brushing the collar, and underneath the duster he was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a black polo shirt that he obviously wasn't comfortable in.

"Who are they?" Reid asked, stunned by the impression they were making.

"Looks like we're not the only ones consulting on this." Rossi said, coming up behind them. J.J., Prentiss, and Hotch all followed him.

"You guys are the BAU?" asked the woman.

"Yes, I'm Agent Hotchner and this is my team, agents Juroe, Prentiss, Morgan, Rossi, and Dr. Spencer Reid."

"It's great to meet all of you. I'm Dec. Karren Murphy, and this is Mr. Harry Dresden. You'll be working pretty closely until this has all been figured out.

" I know it probably really isn't your style, but you're going to need to listen to him. If he says you can't go inside, then you're waiting in the car. If he says to jump, then-"

"Then we say how high?" Reid finished.

Murphy frowned. "You can forget about the how high, you just need to get your damn feet up in the air. I know he may look more than a little untrustworthy, but he knows his stuff." She walked away after that, leaving the team more than a little confused.

"Look," Dresden started. "I have no wish whatsoever to mess with your investigation. Murph thinks I might have some helpful insight as to _how _the crimes were committed. As I understand it, you guys focus more on the _who _and _why._" He held his hands up in a sign of good faith, and Prentiss decided to give him some leeway.

"So, what is it exactly that you consult on?" she asked.

"Um, the weirder, more unexplainable cases. That kind of stuff mostly. You?"

Reid jumped in. "We analyze factors in the case; such as victimology, MO, and others, in order to give us a better picture of the person whose committing the crimes.

"Oh, that's pretty interesting… Anyway, can I see what you've got so far?"

"Of course-" Hotch was interrupted by a depressed and disgusted sigh from across the room.

"There's been another murder guys." Murphy called sadly.

"Rossi, go with Reid to this next scene. Prentiss, Morgan, I want you to go talk to the family of the last victim. I'll stay here with J.J. to set up a press conference."

"Uh, mind if I tag along with you two?" Dresden asked Agent Rossi,

"No, but I'm driving." Harry shrugged and followed the agents out of the office.

* * *

It was eerie how calm the scene was.

Normally there was panic. A chaotic confusion that would snap you up sane and spit you out damaged and feeling filthy to your core if you weren't careful.

Good thing Harry was careful.

The house resembled something from _Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. _There was a silent and unruffled tranquility that seemed to had have replaced the confusion. Quiet, peaceful calm that, with as much subtlety as insubstantial emotions could muster, breathed it's way into your soul. The peculiar sensation was trying to convince you that nothing was wrong. And why would anything be? It didn't seem like anything was wrong. The woman on the bed was just sleeping. That wasn't blood, it was food coloring, or spaghetti sauce. People in Chicago are notoriously messy eaters….

Harry recognized a spell when he felt one.

First of all, they weren't even in the house yet. Hell, Reid wasn't even out of the car. The thoughts were coming from somewhere else. Probably an object. Which would mean a charmed object. Which was subtle. Something this subtle usually meant _someone strong. _

_All Harry had to do now was locate the charm, disable or contain it, and keep Rossi and Reid focused so that they wouldn't be snared by the trap._

_That was the easy part._

_Having the job that they had meant that they knew that something was wrong the moment that they walked into the house. The officers on scene were dead walking. It was almost like they were asleep. _

"_What is wrong with these people?" Reid whispered as they walked into the dead woman's room. It's like this isn't real for them."_

"_Maybe, they're shocked?" Harry supplied, glancing around the room. _

"_I don't think so…. Remind me to tell Hotch that this is gonna be a weird one." Rossi said, pulling on a pair of gloves. _

_The girl splayed out on the light blue comforter really did look asleep. There was absolutely no blood and you could barely see the cuts. _

_They ran all over the body, thin, precise, and deep. _

"_Do you think he's taking the bones for a trophy?" Harry asked._

"_No," Reid began. "Most serial killers who take trophies take something small and memorable. The adult human body has 206 bones. The most commonly taken bones are teeth, knuckles and vertebrae. Taking one of the larger bones would mean something different in and of itself, but this unsub took them all." Reid began looking at the objects in the room._

"_But, that's weird." Harry said, stopping for a minute._

"_Of course it's weird," Rossi replied. "Otherwise none of us would be here."_

"_No, I mean… What souvenirs do you have?" Harry asked, trying to organize his train of thought._

"_From what?" Rossi was examining the cuts that covered the woman's body._

"_Like anything, baseball games, vacations…."_

"_I still have the ticket from the first magic show I saw." Reid said, smiling at the memory. "The magician's name was Marco the Magnificent. He… uh… right, sorry, go on Harry."_

"_If you take something too big, it makes something seem, closer almost. Like you could go back there anytime you want-"_

"_But taking something small makes it just unreal enough to look back on fondly." Rossi finished, sighing. " Which means he's using the bones for something."_

"_Like what?" Reid asked, digging through a jewelry box on the nightstand._

_And that would be where I come in thought Harry stoically._

"_This is weird." Rossi and Harry turned to Reid._

"_What is it?" _

"_This woman likes bright colors. Her jewelry consists mostly of bright stones like opals, quartz, and bright silver chains." _

"_Yeah, so?" Rossi questioned belligerently._

"_So, it makes something like this seem very out of place." Then the good doctor held up a pendant that made Harry go cold. It was a ruby in the shape of a pentagonal prism hanging from an untarnished golden chain. Each face of the prism was about a quarter inch across, and on each face, a pentagram was engraved._

_The piece itself was memorable. It would have struck a cord in anyone who looked at it, wizard or otherwise. The fact that it was leaking magic was just an added bonus._

_Actually, leaking is exactly the wrong word. The jewel was oozing magic. A thick, cold phlegm that seemed to soak into Harry's very being. _

_He wasn't even looking at it with his Sight. Not that he ever would, not until it was necessary at least. _

"_Drop it!" He boomed. _

_Reid jumped and landed off. He tripped over his own feet and dropped the pendant, then landed again, this time on his face._

_Before Rossi could intervene, Harry had grabbed the back of Spencer's shirt and hauled him up on his feet and then some. _

"_Where is it?" Harry asked, there was a lethal kind of focus in his voice that shook Reid to his core._

"_I- I don't really know. It might have rolled under the bed."_

_As Harry bent to get the pendant, Rossi yanked Spencer away from him. _

"_Are you okay?" _

"_Yeah. Fine." _

"_What the hell is wrong with that guy?" _

"_I don'… know…. Hey, I think I'm gonna go wait it the car. I feel… off."_

_Spencer left. After that there was nothing else to really look at. Harry and Rossi finished the visit in a glaring contest that would make history. Maybe if they hadn't been thinking about their own individual concerns , then one of them would have noticed the sharp, thin cut that the ruby had made on Spencer's arm._


	2. Chapter 2

So, this is based on every serial killer- psychopath- crazy government conspirator narration that Dean Koontz has ever written. So, if by chance, you somehow come across this crazy piece of chopped up and mushed together fiction; thanks Dean, I owe you one.

His name was Richard.

It meant High King, or Great Ruler.

Either would do.

Richard was looking at Melissa Williams bones when his trap went off.

Obviously this Dresden person everyone was talking about wasn't as smart or powerful as they made him out to be. Otherwise he would have found the trap and disabled it. Either way it would have been noticed by the High King.

As it was, Richard had something much more valuable now.

Blood.


	3. Chapter 3

Morgan and Prentiss walked into Jonathan Martin's house with the familiar sense of apprehension and dread that accompanied them on all such excursions.

Talking with the family of a dead man was never pleasant. It went one of either two ways; they found out that the person in question was terribly loved and would be desperately missed, or there was something dark about the dead man that they would need to figure out in order to solve the case. Either way it was never easy, never forgettable.

"Do you wanna talk to the mom?" asked Morgan, nodding towards a tall woman with short blonde hair.

"Yeah, go find the sister, I can handle this." Morgan walked away, and Prentiss made a point to mentally sigh, preparing herself for the tears or the lies, whichever would come first.

* * *

"He what?" Hotch said quietly, looking at Reid and Rossi with a sense of apprehension.

"He practically tackled Reid. The kid held up a necklace and the guy went berserk."

"Actually, berserk is a term that was used to describe a particular tribe of Vikings as they raided villages. Before the raids they would drink copious amounts of alcohol mixed with a type of plant that increased testosterone and adrenaline. Then they would work themselves into a frenzy and… uh…" Reid sputtered out, his train of thought lost.

Hotch knew that that wasn't good. Generally, when the good doctor began spouting random facts about the meanings and origins of words he was a little spooked.

But the team leader was torn. Obviously whatever this man had done had scared Reid, but an odd tugging at the back of his mind was telling him that something was really off about his case. And that they were going to need all the help that they could get.

"But, what about the necklace? The one that made Mr. Dresden so anxious in the first place."

"He took it to Karren so she could put it into evidence." Rossi replied.

"Was there anything special about it that either of you can remember?" Hotch asked.

"Why don't you just go get the thing from Murphy?" J.J. asked, despite the mound of paperwork on the desk in front of her, she had apparently heard most of what had been said.

"Well, it looks like she and Dresden are having a conversation and I would hate to interrupt." Hotch nodded toward the window.

Rossi looked toward the window and saw Harry and Karren yelling at each other. Something told David that there really wasn't anything to worry about, that they did this often. But that didn't mean it wasn't annoying.

"You know, I've half a mind to lock him out. So far, all he's done is look crazy and scare Reid."

"Yeah, but we're going to need him for something eventually." Hotch's phone rang, it was Morgan.

"Agent Hotchner."

"Hey, Hotch. There's nothing here. The victim before the latest was pretty normal. Jogged every night, worked out, single. A regular bachelor."

"So the only thing that the victims have in common is the fact that they're healthy and attractive."

"It looks that way."

Hotch sighed. "Thanks Morgan, come back down." He hung up the phone.

"We're not even close to a preliminary profile, are we?" Rossi sighed with him.

"No. But the clock is ticking. The cooling off period between these last two murders was only two days, as opposed to the week it took him to go after Jonathan."

"So we're running out of time?"

"It looks like that."

* * *

Reid was glad that they weren't talking about him anymore. He was the youngest, the baby. They all worried about him to some extent, he knew that. And sometimes he appreciated that extra attention. Just not right now.

There was something bugging him about this whole case. He was looking at a map, trying to come up with a geographical profile by organizing a map of the city of Chicago into a grid.

The only problem was that every part of Chicago had supplied a victim, no matter how he sliced it, there was no comfort zone. No pattern, no radius, no perimeter….

No comfort zone.

He pulled out his phone in a hurry and dialed. "Garcia?"

"Yes, the Queen of all things Technological is speaking."

"I need to you too pull up all the place that the victims were found and see if there's anything in common."

"Okey-dokey, anything in particular we're looking for?"

"Maybe, just see what you can find."

"Alright….. Oooh, it looks like all of the places are tourist sights. But you would know that already, wouldn't you Reid?"

"Umm, yeah. I'm just a little off today, I guess."

"Reid, honey are you-"

"Yeah, thanks Garcia." He hung up just as Prentiss and Morgan walked in.

"Guys, I think I got something." Reid called behind him.

"What is it?" Murphy had walked in, Harry following sullenly behind her. Reid didn't bother to meet his eyes.

"Okay, so most serial killers have a comfort zone. You can usually mark where each of the victims was found, murdered, or abducted, and plot out a circle. The killer will live somewhere in the area of that circle.

"But there's no pattern to this. They've all been found at seemingly random location all across the city."

"So," Murphy said with a frown. "He doesn't live in Chicago?"

"No, he didn't live in Chicago. All of these places are tourist attractions."

"Places that people who live in Chicago tend to avoid because of all the traffic and annoying people in khakis" supplied Dresden.

"Exactly, these place are almost completely empty at night, except for the people that work there. The victims all worked where they were found."

"Not the last girl, Melissa." Dresden interrupted.

Rossi shot him a look, but Reid jumped right back in. "Not true, that's a historic neighborhood, recently restored. Melissa was a history major, my guess is she was studying the architecture and style of the old building when she was killed."

"So, this guy's getting his victims from travel brochures?" Murphy asked disgust clear on her face.

"It looks like it." Reid replied slowly.

"Wouldn't that make the stressor something that happened after he came to Chicago, something that made him mad at the city." Prentiss asked.

"No," Hotch said. "He's not taking the bones as trophies, so he's using them for something."

"He came to Chicago to kill." J.J. realized.

"Or to prove a point." Rossi sighed.

Harry had a distinct and gut-wrenching feeling that the point was to be made to him.


	4. Chapter 4

"This man is somewhere in his mid 30's and early 40's. He's white, tall, and muscular. He's knew to Chicago and has most likely recently joined a gym.

"He attractive and charming, easy to get along with at first. But after a short while you would realize he thought he was better than you. Because of this, he doesn't have many close friends, those he does have, he would treat as servants, people meant to please him and nothing else.

"We believe that this man has only been in Chicago for about two months, we are urging you, if you hear anything, see anything, or know anything; it is desperately important that you call us immediately." The blonde woman smiled and stepped off the podium.

Richard was surprised. He hadn't known that the police would call in someone other than Dresden. It wasn't disconcerting, but it wasn't comforting either.

But no matter. The murders had been necessary for his army. There were over 200 bones in each of the bodies; and just one of those bones would bring life to one of his soldiers.

There were some worrying things that the woman had gotten right. The description had been vague enough the ensure in anonymity, but the gym membership might have to be canceled before someone put two and two together.

So Richard wasn't really worried. After all, he wouldn't be killing again any time soon.

At least, not on a singular scale.


	5. Chapter 5

_Harry was sitting at Mac's bar, reflecting on all of the screw-ups he'd made that day. There was when he'd scared the crap out of Dr. Reid, who barely looked old enough to drive, much less examine a crime scene._

_Oh, there was when he'd been unable to stop the ridiculously powerful teleportation spell that had snapped up that damn pendant. _

_Then of course, there was when he'd signed up to take the case in the first place. _

_Now, Dr. Reid was absolutely terrified of him, the BAU was probably going to accuse him of tampering with evidence, and he had a murderous psychopath of a wizard to hunt down without letting the FBI get to close._

_Fricken' terrific._

_How on earth was he supposed to keep the nation's smartest minds from discovering magic? _

_It wasn't that they weren't allowed to know. The Council could care less who knew about magic. It was just that, if they did find out, then they would realize that there was something supernatural about this case. _

_After they got over the initial shock, then they would do one of two things; go crazy, or call in everyone possible and end up getting themselves killed by an angry and powerful wizard. _

_Or necromancer. It didn't really matter, either way, the latter was the most probable outcome. _

_All that mattered was the fact that there was some sadistic son of a bitch out there who was using magic to do something completely and utterly terribly._

_Why weren't the Wardens doing anything…_

_Oh. He _was a Warden. Which meant that he was going to have to fix everything anyway.

Damn. Always, always, always. Everything always ended up falling on him. It wasn't fair at all. Did he have a massive cosmic 'kick me' sign on his head or something? Why did he have to deal with all this?

It wasn't like him home life wasn't screwed up enough; his brother enjoyed slowing killing women with sex, his dad was dead, his mom was dead, and he eventually ended up nearly killing everyone he loved.

But as per all sad stories, Harry was expected to save the world. Or at least the greater Chicago area.

Borrowing Molly's new favorite acronym, Harry muttered, "FML." under his breath, and chugged down the rest of his beer.

"Put it on my tab Mac." The wizard stood, straightened his coat, and walked out of the bar to finish the job he'd been given.

* * *

Spencer was having some trouble sleeping. 

It wasn't like he'd never had trouble sleeping before. Ask anyone on the team, nightmares were part of the job. But somehow, this insomnia was different.

Reid had always had a busy brain, that too, was nothing new. It was his strength and weakness, all wrapped up in one big ball of techno babble and locked inside his head.

The thing was though, he's always been able to shut it off when need be. He could take all the facts, random thoughts, and ideas that were bouncing off his mind and cage them. Figuratively of course, literally thoughts are just electrical impulses reacting to chemicals in the brain that…. That's besides the point though. 

Tonight, Reid couldn't seem to shut off his brain. He could hear Morgan in the bed across from him, breathing evenly and heavily. 

Apparently it wasn't impossible to be jealous of and absence of conscious thought.

Reid sighed and turned over. The pillowcases on the bed were covered in right triangles, and Reid's head decided to flash through everything he'd ever known about the Pythagorean Therom.

It was nearly four o'clock in the morning when he decided to give up and re-read _The Art of War, when one last terrifying and heart stopping thought flashed through him._

_Schizophrenia is an inherited disease._


	6. Chapter 6

The spell was ingenious.

So simple in it's design, yet so marvelously… destructive.

The sound of it rolled off his tongue. Thick, smooth, and sickly sweet.

The power source was easily found, easily tapped into.

Now all that was needed was some copper, some silver, and a piece of chalk.

After all, what goes better with an army of mindless, indestructible killing machines, than natural disasters?


	7. Chapter 7

**So, I've been looking at these and for some weird reason the words come out formatted crazy. I didn't do that. And if I did, it wasn't on purpose. They're not like that for any special reason. They're just like that. So anyway, I know the last chapter was super short, but hey, Richard isn't a serial killer of many words. This one should be a bit longer, and thanks to the only THREE people that have reviewed this story so far, you guys are awesome and the only thing besides a super annoying twin sister that's keeping me going.**

"Oh my gosh Spencer. You're a life saver." Emily reached for one of the cups of coffee that the young doctor was holding, only to have it snatched quickly away from her.

"This isn't yours." he said, shaking his head slowly, as if he was really focusing on every word he was saying, making sure that it made sense.

Emily watched him as he walked away, the worry she felt hidden to most eyes.

Unfortunately, Morgan's eyes weren't most eyes.

"He's been like that all morning."

"What?"

"I don't think he got very much sleep last night. When I woke up he was already dressed and ready, reading through _The Art of War."_

"Hasn't he already read that?"

"Yeah."

"But he hates rereading books. He-" realization dawned on the agent.

Morgan nodded solemnly.

"This case isn't the worst we've seen. Granted, it most certainly isn't the best, but is it really getting to him that hard?"

"Not even I could tell you what goes on inside that kid's head. Maybe it's not even that, I heard he had some sort of… argument or something with Dresden yesterday. Maybe it's got something to do with that."

"Yeah…" But for some reason, Emily doubted that.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"Dammit Harry! Where are you?" Murphy muttered, slamming the phone down on the receiver for the fifth time.

It wasn't like she could leave to go and get him. The cops and detectives who worked in Chicago's SI unit were getting more than a bit frustrated with the case, and the FBI was noticing. Everyone who'd ever worked with Harry knew that Murphy wouldn't bring him in unless there was something… other about the case. Sure, he'd helped with kidnapped kids and stolen things before. But the majority of the cases he worked on involved some sort of horrible monster or evil necromancer or something that would potentially end up destroying the world.

So that was pretty much what everyone, Murphy included, was convinced was going on. Except the BAU, and since they didn't really know what was going on, that meant that they were kind of a hindrance.

So…..

"Hey, Agent Hotchner!" Murphy called.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

JJ _hated _dogs.

They were big, slobbering, loud obnoxious monsters that didn't need to exist.

And this place smelled of dog.

Why Hotch had sent her and Emily to pick up and find this Dresden guy, she would never know, but dammit if she could see any sign of a dog when she walked through the door, she was going to…

"MOUSE! Will you get that?" someone shouted from the other side of the door that Emily had just finished banging on.

The handle started to wobble and abruptly a very, very, very large dog _answered, _yes, _answered _the door.

JJ fainted.

The dog darted behind the FBI Agent and caught her. It nudged Emily with it's great head, and walked slowly past her with the girl on his back.

Harry walked upstairs just as Emily was getting JJ onto the couch. He saw the two of them and frowned slightly.

"Is she afraid of dogs?"

"Yeah… and after seeing that mammoth you keep as a pet, can you really blame her?" Emily grinned slightly.

"Oh, Mouse is harmless," Dresden said, reaching down to scratch the dog's head. "Hells bells, he barely even growls."

And then Mouse started to growl.

Emily _felt _the sound more than she could hear it. Behind her, Harry tensed up instantly and moved quickly in front of her.

"Do you have a gun Agent Prentiss?" he asked, his voice calm and hard.

"Yes."

"Now would be an excellent time to bring it out. Mouse, stay with JJ." the dog walked over and stood stock still over the unconscious blonde.

"Dresden what is going on?" whispered Emily. The feeling that something bad was about to happen couldn't be shaken. As many times as she told herself that this was just a paranoid PI overreacting to his guard dog's warning… it just wouldn't go away.

"Did you close the door after you came in?" he asked slowly.

"Maybe, probably. Why does it matter?"

"Because now, there's a good chance that we're about to be screwed." His words made absolutely no sense.

At least, not until the _things walked into the room._

_Their movements were stiff, almost mechanical, they were covered in this sort of drippy, thick slime, that looked like old bacon grease. Perhaps though, the most startling and terrifying thing about them was the fact that they had no faces._

"_Oh God, oh God, oh God-"_

"_Emily," Dresden's voice was sharp and loud, quickly replacing the eerie and terrifying silence that had paralyzed the dark headed Agent._

_The change was instantaneous and exactly what Harry had hoped for. Emily steeled herself, tensing and readying herself for the impending attack. _

"_When this is all over, I'm going to expect an explanation."_

"_I will gladly give you one."_

_Then it spoke._

_Neither Harry nor Emily would be able to actually recall whose voice it was, but the message was very clear._

"_This is just a taste." The voice dragged itself across their minds, scratching and scraping with hard syllables, but at the same time dripping and oozing with undisguised malevolence._

_Then they launched themselves._

_()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()_

_When JJ woke up the house was a mess. The carpet was covered in a thick, flaky brown crust, and the furniture had be tossed around. _

_The dog was there though. Just staring at her. His eyes were big and brown and somehow, they took away the feeling of unease that had wormed its way into her. _

"_Why is it that you're growing on me?" she asked warily._

_The dog whined slightly and nudged her shoulders, as if telling her to get up._

_JJ obliged and stood, following the dog out the house, and into the backyard of the building that Harry lived in._

_Emily and Dresden were standing there. In front of a bonfire._

_Thick, greasy, black smoke rose from the flames. Both Harry and Emily were filthy, covered in the same flaky shell that JJ had seen on the floor in the apartment. Their clothes were torn and scorched. Harry was carrying a heavy looking stick, covered in odd carving that seemed to writhe and move as JJ watched. _

_Emily turned around and gave her a tired smile._

_Dresden raised his hand and passed it over the fire, it went out an instant later. JJ's eyes widened at the action and Emily shrugged, she nudged Dresden with her elbow and they walked towards her._

"_I'm surprised you actually stayed out through all of that." Emily said, a lifeless kind of wonder running through her words. _

"_Don't be, if one of those things had even tried to get near her Mouse would have had it on the ground and out in a second." he looked at the dog and thoughtfully scratched it's head. "He's good like that." _

"_Uh, yeah." JJ scratched her head and blinked the last bit of sleep from her eyes. "Does somebody want to tell me exactly what just happened?"_

"_I was actually just about to address that, when I decided that I would wait until your whole team was here to hear it." Harry said. He flung the oddly carved stick across his neck and draped his arms over it._

"_Well, that shouldn't take to long." Emily said, looking over her shoulder. Abruptly all of them were aware of the sounds of sirens in the distance._

_Harry sighed and sat down heavily on the ground. He looked up at Emily and JJ and smiled warily. "Come on, kick your feet up and relax while you can. Trust me, things are about to get a whole hell of a lot crazier."_


	8. Chapter 8

**Ummmm, thanks to BURN3, whose kind of been fueling my words throughout like half of this, I figured I owe you more than a little recognition, so once again, thanks.**

The King had underestimated Dresden.

He hadn't faced much resistance earlier, when he was rifling through the man's thoughts, it had been easy to drag the spell, and his address from the jumbled mind.

And that had put Richard at ease.

Ease is never a good state of mind to be in.

His power had been undermined by the lack of organization in his mind. He was a man of great knowledge, and though with knowledge comes power, not knowing how to _use what has been gained can be the fatal flaw that puts you in the ground._

_Through the unseeing eyes of his puppets, Richard had met the wizard. He had seen his morals and values guide his actions. He was not guided solely by a sense of self preservation like others, and also unlike others, Richard would give the man credit for this._

_Most saw a conscience as a weakness, easily used against an opponent. But the King had faced enemies with strong values before, and underestimating them had very nearly been his downfall. _

_He would not underestimate the wizard Harry Dresden._

_His puppets had also shown him the great power that the wizard held. Perhaps, even as powerful as the King himself. Morals as strong as his, combined with a power as great as his made for a dangerous combination._

_But, to some extent, Richard had expected this, and he could continue with his plans unhindered._

_The King sat back and smiled. The FBI Agents at the house had been a welcome surprise to the situation. They made things more interesting, and perhaps they would even make things a little bit more challenging._

_Preparations were already underway and there was nothing to do now but wait._


	9. Chapter 9

The fire had been one thing.

The haunted and slightly wild look in Emily's eyes had been another.

But what finally set Hotch off, was the fact that Dresden seemed so nonchalant.

"Calm down Agent Hotchner, we've got it all under control."

"I can see that. Or at least, I've been trying to." He turned to Murphy. "Your boss called us here to help, but since I've been here I can see that our assistance is very much unwelcome. This whole unit has been looking at you and Dresden for tip-offs on how to treat us. It's obvious that you've got a secret and I would appreciate it if you would tell me.

"And in case you're thinking about refusing, you'd better know that I'm not asking. With one phone call I can have you, Detective Murphy, on suspension for the rest of your life." Hotch turned back to Harry. "And I can have you locked up in either jail or a sanitarium, it's up to you to choose."

Harry sighed and scratched his head, then he turned to look over at Murphy. Something told Hotch that this wasn't the first time they'd been faced with an ultimatum.

"A bed, three square meals a day, and hey, maybe they'd even put me in one of those nice, comfy padded rooms." Dresden said, rising slowly to his feet. He took one more step and was now towering over Hotch. "I don't appreciate you threatening Murphy though. She's got nothing to do with this."

"Then I guess you have some explaining to do." Hotch's voice was as steady and hard as his glare. There was something in his eyes that Harry recognized, and something that he liked.

"I'm a wizard. I fight supernatural monsters and end up saving the world at least once a year. I'm pretty sure that this guy you've been after is into dark magic. And since I work for the magic cops, then I've gotta do something about it. I might be able to get done faster without you people in my way." Harry gave Hotch a glare to match his own.

"Well it's too bad you can't send us home then, isn't it." Hotch sighed. "Look, I don't want to be here any more than you want me here right now. Whatever it is about this case it's draining my agents more than I would like. I may not believe you right now, but I can tell that you're not lying. Right now we're a liability, if you tell us what's actually going on here, then you won't be accountable for anything else that happens while we're here."

Like hell I won't be, thought Dresden. Curse his damnable conscious.

"Alright, but I don't know much either. I was kinda in the process of figuring out how much power a transportation spell takes when," he cast a sidelong glance at Emily. "Some guests decided to pop in."

Emily looked about ready to faint. Morgan, as if finally noticing the state of his friend and colleague, darted over the help. Though she shrugged off the hand that was meant to help her to the car, she did lean heavily on him.

"First off, I'd like to hear what happened here from Emily."

Emily looked up at the sound of her name. There was a stupor about her. The unreal circumstances had grounded themselves firmly in her psyche, making them more real to her than to anyone else on her team.

So, how should she explain this? Her entire world had been shattered and rebuilt in a matter of minutes, how could she explain things to make them seem the realness, the danger?

Turns out, she didn't have to.

Just as Emily opened her mouth to speak, Spencer screamed.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

One second, he was waiting for Emily's explanation, the next, he was burning.

Everything inside him was on fire, there was nothing that didn't hurt and there was nowhere he could go to get away from the pain.

It didn't dull over time, it wound itself so tightly inside him that there was nothing but the pain. No relief, no pause, no single thought that it ever could or would get better, just the pain.

There was this tugging though. This little insistent feeling that simply refused to go away. It was this feeling that was keeping Reid from falling into the sweet oblivion that was unconsciousness.

This tugging, was Richard's way of making sure that Reid felt all this pain.

The pain though, was Richard's anger at finding out that he had been wrong.


	10. Chapter 10

Richard was mad.

How on Earth had he managed to get the wrong man?

How had he, Richard, The King, The Warrior, managed to get someone without even a single ounce of magical talent.

Next to him, a chair exploded.

Wooden shrapnel stung his skin, but he didn't care. With three quick breaths, the King was once again composed.

After all, this wasn't a total loss, the spell was sound, and he still had a connection with this meek and powerless fool known as Reid.

He could still watch them, he could still listen.

But first, Spencer Reid was going to have to pay.


	11. Chapter 11

Harry was on the ground beside Spencer before Hotch could get a word out.

"What's wrong with him?" Morgan asked, though the concern behind his eyes was desperate and helpless, he knew that he needed to be calm right now. Otherwise he wouldn't be able to help.

"Yeah, check for a cut."

"What?"

"Check for a cut, it would be something small and hot, maybe even…."

"Like this?" Morgan was holding Reid's arm. On the inside of his bicep was a thin, sharp cut. The skin all around the cut looked purple and bruised. The veins around it were popping up and snaked out from the cut in all directions.

"What the hell?" asked Morgan. "Why didn't he tell anyone about this?"

"Probably because it hasn't been this bad until just now." Harry said. He looked over his shoulder at Murphy and nodded. Her lips thinned out into a tight line as she nodded back to him.

Then Harry turned on his Sight.

A thorny, pulsing, purplish black vine was wrapped around the doctor's arm, twisting and pulling the skin until it was taut.

The vine was inching up his arm, looking for something to grab, something to hang onto. It wanted more purchase.

"Like hell you're gonna get any." Harry growled. He snapped out his hand and began tearing at the vine. But it wouldn't go away. It shredded and came back, shredded and came back. But Harry wasn't planning on stopping anytime soon.

And all the while, Harry could hear a voice, "You wretched little maggot! You filthy nothing! You are useless without me! You were nothing until I made you! The Wizard Dresden is going to watch you die!" And that only served to make Harry move faster.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

To the members of the BAU who weren't magically afflicted, Harry looked crazy. There was nothing there, but Harry was sure as hell tugging at something, and it didn't look like he was going to stop for anyone.

The only person who didn't look surprised to see this was Detective Murphy. She was taking everything in stride and making note of everything that she was seeing.

"How is this helping?" Morgan asked angrily, the concern, frustration, and tension that he'd been hiding finally leaking into his voice.

"Why do you ask crazy people to be consultants?" JJ hissed at Murphy. Hotch was pacing and debating whether or not he should call someone. Morgan looked about ready to punch Dresden in the face and Rossi was just staring into space. In fact the only people who weren't questioning Harry's sanity were Muphy and Emily.

"That's it. This guy is crazy and I'm not just gonna sit here and wait for Reid to die." Rossi whipped out his phone and called 911.

Not good, thought Murphy. Now, it's safe to say that after nearly more than five years dealing with Dresden's magic crap all the time, Karren had picked up a few things. And one of those things was that Harry didn't generally mix well with ambulances.

So, as soon as she heard Rossi ask for one, she knew that she needed to do something, and fast.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Harry couldn't get it off, he couldn't pull it away. There was nothing he could do. Spencer was going to die…..

Unless a battered and torn warrior angel had anything to say about it. Murphy strode up from behind him, carrying Fidelacchius, and she was shining brighter than ever to his Sight.

With a quick, sharp cry, she swung the sword down on Spencer's arm, slicing through the thickest part of the vine. The rest of it faded away, dissolving into a powdery black dust.

The sword had caused quite an uproar with the BAU, and it wasn't a second before Hotch and Rossi had Murphy pinned to a wall, despite the fact that she wasn't struggling at all.

"Hell's bells guys, calm down." Harry said. Slightly out of breath, he walked over to Hotch and Rossi and smiled down at Murphy.

"Um, you guys can let her go now." He said, giving Hotch and Rossi a hard glare.

"She just attacked one of my people with a sword, and you want me to let her go?" Hotch said, his voice getting tighter.

"Yeah, 'cause if you take a look back there," Harry said, jerking a thumb back towards Reid. "The good doctor is fine now."

Rossi and Hotch both looked around Harry and saw that Morgan was helping up Reid, who was rubbing his head and trying to get his footing.

"Damn it, you scared the hell out of us Reid!" JJ shouted, she ran over and wrapped her arms around him.

Oddly enough, all Spencer could think about was how much shorter she seemed.

Emily ran over to get in on the group hug. And after both girls had let go, Morgan walked up to pat his friend on the shoulder.

"So, if you could let go of the woman who just saved his life, I would be much obliged."

The agents looked at one another and sighed. Hotch was the first to let go of the Detective, followed quickly by Rossi. The two of them walked over to Reid while Harry turned back towards Murphy.

"So, what made you think of using the Sword?"

"Reminds me of duct tape?"

"How?"

"Cause it seems to me that if you fix a problem using one of these," she said, twisting the blade so that it caught the light just right. "It always seems to stick."

"Unless there's more than one of the same problem."

"You're such a buzz kill."

"I'm pretty sure I put that on my consultant resume."

"There wasn't a consultant resume."

"Well, then I guess I should probably told you that I'm a buzz kill."

Karren punched Harry in the arm, and for a second everything was back to normal, until the ambulance came screeching around the corner.


	12. Chapter 12

What?

What!

"WHAT?" Richard screamed.

This wasn't possible, the connection had been severed. Annihilated. Gone. It was simply gone.

Yes, simply.

The one way bond between the Doctor and the King had be broken in a way akin to blowing out a candle.

As softly and quickly as a breath to a flaming wick.

How?

"HOW!" The windows around the room exploded.

How was Dresden doing all of this? He shouldn't have been able to perform such a feat. The power behind the severance had been one of the strongest powers that the King had ever felt, and even then he had known that it was just a piece of an even greater energy.

Where and how Dresden was getting this energy was of no consequence though.

The chaos was imminent, and there was nothing anybody could do about it.


	13. Chapter 13

**So, I feel that I should apologize beforehand for this chapter, cause it might suck. I promised myself that I would post this by tonight, and I was totally ready to…. And then a storm knocked out the power and stupid irresponsible me forgot to save. So I'm gonna try to make this shine, but it might be horrible. I would love feedback, and I would love ideas. I hope you guys like this. **

They weren't freaking out.

Surprisingly enough, the BAU wasn't freaking out about the whole magic thing.

Then again, maybe they were too busy freaking out over the fact that one of their own was currently unconscious and strapped to a gurney in the back of an ambulance.

Following the incident with the sword, Rossi's ambulance had arrived. After the paramedics had loaded a disoriented Reid into the back of the ambulance he had been dosed with a mild sedative that had lulled the good doctor into an immediate and much needed sleep.

JJ had climbed into the back with Spencer, and Harry got the impression that she was the mother of the group, or at least someone that everyone on the team could relate to.

Currently, Dresden and Murphy were standing back as the BAU crowded around as a nurse came out to say that Reid would be awake in about fifteen minutes.

"They need to talk this out." Harry sighed and turned to Murphy.

"I know, but they're sure as hell not gonna talk about it while we're breathing down their necks."

"You want some jello?" Harry asked.

"Not really, but we should probably leave anyway." With that the detective and the wizard left the waiting area.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"That man is insane and dangerous." Rossi said blatantly as the two left.

"Insane?" JJ questioned.

"He says he's a wizard who saves the world at least once a year. Granted, it's not as bad as some of the people we've had the displeasure of dealing with, but how does claiming something like that make you seem anything less than insane?"

"He's telling the truth." Prentiss said quietly.

Rossi shook his head. "Look, Emily, I know that whatever happened in that house was traumatizing. But, we all know that during situations of intense emotion, things can get a little blurry-"

"Are you profiling me?"

"What?"

"I thought we weren't supposed to profile each other. Are you saying that I wasn't paying attention? Because I think that, after having this job for as long as I have, I know hoe to keep calm when the situation demands it. Even if I am scared out of my mind."

"That's not what I'm saying-"

"No, that's exactly what you're saying. Ever since you saw me at that damn bonfire you guys have all been acting like I'm made of glass. Like if you say the wrong thing I'm gonna break into a million tiny pieces that you're not going to be able to pick up or something. I know I'm stronger than that. And I thought you knew that too." With one last glance at her colleagues, Emily stood and walked away.

"I believe her." It was Morgan who spoke.

Rossi just stared at him.

"Nothing rattle Prentiss. She's probably the hardest one here, and she's been doing this job for the shortest time. If this guy has her that convinced, then I'm pretty sure there's something more to him. Might not be magic, but it's definitely something." Morgan looked at all the people around him. "What about you JJ?"

"I honestly don't care. Something happened in that apartment, and we all know that Reid wasn't right this morning. He saved them, and in my book, that makes him someone worth trusting. Even if he does think he's a wizard. Hotch?"

"I believe that he can help us solve this case. Beyond that I'm out of my league and out of my payroll. Morgan, find Prentiss and do a cognitive interview. Morgan, you're going to go back to the apartment with me to see if we can find anything at all that might be useful. JJ, I want you here with Reid when he wakes up." Thankful that their boss had fallen back into old habit despite the turn of events, the team split up and went about their tasks.

"Morgan, you go start the car, I'll be right out." Hotch walked over to Rossi, who stood to meet him.

"Look Hotch…"

"I know that this isn't the easiest thing for you to do right now, but I need you to cooperate with them alright. I'm not asking you to believe in magic, I'm asking you to catch a killer. You know what the profile said, this guy needs to be known. The murder didn't happen when it was supposed to which means…"

"That this guy has something bigger in stores."

"Exactly. So please, just, work with them." Hotch sighed and then turned to follow Morgan.

"I will." Rossi mumbled, watching his boss walk away. "But that doesn't mean I can't do a check up." He took out his phone and pressed speed dial 7."

"Hello, Garcia? Yeah, I need you too look someone up for me. By the name of Harry Dresden…"

**So, whatcha think? I know it's not very good but the next one will be better, I promise. Oh, and I was thinking about bringing Thomas in at some point. Do you guys think that would be okay? Or would you rather leave him out? Feedback please, I would appreciate it very much. **


	14. Chapter 14

The work was done.

The spell had been crafted.

And now, all the King had to do was wait.

Wait.

And watch.

Watch as the city fell to his creatures. The Wizard Dresden wouldn't be able to stop him. And he would die.

And then the King would be acknowledged for the greatness he possessed.

He was after all, the best.


	15. Chapter 15

Reid was floating.

The last thing he remembered was being in pain. Like, horrible, bright, aching, burning, spinning pain.

And then a flash.

Spencer wasn't exactly sure what had ended the pain. But he was pretty sure that that flash had had something to do with it.

He would have to ask someone when he woke up.

Oh! He was asleep! Or unconscious. It didn't really matter though. He need to get up, he had things to tell the team. He needed to help them catch the killer.

Because Spencer knew who it was now.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

JJ was worrying herself to death. She hadn't actually accomplished much since they'd been here. Unless you count fainting and crying. She'd done a quite a bit of both since they'd gotten here.

It wasn't that she wasn't capable of doing anything, and it wasn't that she blamed herself for not being able to do it. No, that was the fault of the circumstances and she knew it. Seriously, how many people can actually function when the people around them are either claiming that magic is real, or about to have an emotional breakdown. It really wasn't very fair.

She was tired of worrying though, and something told her that she would end up having a lot more to worry about before this case was through with.

Five minutes later, Reid woke up. After getting him checked out, the pair hurried to the police department. Apparently Spencer was going to clear a few things up.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Hotch and Rossi hadn't really found anything useful at Harry's apartment. They were in the car driving back to the precinct when Rossi decided to tell Hotch about the background check.

"So, you had Garcia look him up?"

"Yeah."

"And you think I didn't?"

"What?"

"I'm not going to let my team work with someone I don't know anything about. Especially when he's listed in the phonebook under 'Wizard'."

"So-"

"Yes, I about the trouble he's had with the law. I know about all the renovations he's had on his house. I know about how the Organized Crime Division is looking into him to try and find a way to get to someone called Marcone. I even know about that video with him and the FBI agents that some people claim is a werewolf fight or something."

"And you don't care about that? He's obviously dangerous. And after what he did to Reid…" Rossi shook his head. "How can you trust him?"

"I don't. I trust the fact that every time the SI Unit has hired him the bad guys disappear. Maybe they didn't get caught, maybe they're not in jail, but they don't come back. I trust the fact the Detective Murphy, whose father I worked with on a case once, trusts him with her life." Hotch looked ahead at the road. "So, once again David, I'm not asking you to trust him, I'm asking you to work with him."

Rossi didn't have anything to say for the rest of the drive.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Rossi and Hotch arrived at the Police Department shortly after JJ, Reid, Prentiss, and Morgan.

"So, we found something kind of weird." Morgan said when he saw the two older agents.

"You mean besides everything else?" Rossi asked dryly.

"Haha, but seriously, Prentiss, tell 'em what those things said to you."

"This is just a taste."

"Now who does that remind you of?" Morgan crossed him arms.

"Our unsub." Rossi said realizing. "He needs to be noticed. He needs to be the best. Which means…." He turned around to see Dresden and Murphy walking towards them.

"You guys figure out anything new?" Karren asked sitting on the corner of a desk.

"Yeah. The guy who sent those things-"

"Golems." Dresden corrected.

Prentiss sighed. "Okay, Golems. Anyway the same person who sent those things after us is our killer."

"How do you know?" Harry asked.

"The profile is consistent, both perpetrators need to be acknowledged as the best. They need everyone to know that they aren't to be messed with because they can't be beat."

"But we did. Beat him I mean."

"No, we didn't. He stopped killing because he doesn't need to anymore. And when he sent the _golems, _he said 'This is just a taste'. It was like a test." Prentiss explained.

Hotch nodded. "Harry, whoever this is, he came to Chicago to beat you. He needs to know that he's better than you."

"So what does that mean. What's he going to do next?"

"Something bigger. Something more destructive. He knows how much this place means to you. He's going to do everything in his power to show you that you can't protect it." Rossi said quietly.

Harry cursed under his breath and shut his eyes. Opening them again when he felt a hand on this shoulder.

"I know what it's like to have crazy fans." Reid said, smiling sadly at him. "We'll get him. You've got the magic, and we've got the profile. This guy doesn't stand a chance."

And for some reason, that made Harry feel a lot better.

"Besides," Spencer spoke again. "I know who it is." He walked away from Dresden to stand in front of everyone.

"So, it's come to my attention that recently I've been acting really weird. And this is probably going to sound crazy, but I think that someone was in my head. And before you say anything just listen for a second." Reid took a deep breath and continued. "So, it occurred to me that my insomnia was kind of like when we have to sort through old case files at the end of the year. Going through, making notes of all the odd details and filing them away in a much neater and organized manor than before. That's what it felt like someone was doing to everything I know. I thought I was going crazy." He said the last part so quietly that only Derrick could hear.

"Anyway, there's an old saying that goes ' an open door can be walked through more than just one way'. I think, that while he was looking at me, I was looking back at him."

"I'm going to ignore the fact that this evidence isn't going to be anything close to admissible in a trial and ask you to continue." Hotch said crossing his arms.

"If I'm right about this, then his name is Richard Roebin. He's been putting the bones in these clay monster things-"

"Golems." Dresden and Prentiss said at the same time.

"Anyway, he puts one bone in one golem and does something that brings it to life." Reid ducked his head down, waiting to have everything he'd just said discredited by his friends and colleagues. Oh well, they'd at least be nice about it. Probably.

"Wait, he only needs _one _bone to bring one of these things to life?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah-"

"Shit." Reid was cut off by Dresden.

"There's over two hundred bones in the adult human body." Emily said quietly.

"Nine people have been killed." JJ continued.

"Shit." This time, Harry, Derrick, and Karren said it together.

Then the phone rang.

"Garcia," Morgan answered. "This isn't really a good- Okay, okay, here you're on speaker."

"Hi guys. I thought I would try to be helpful despite the fact that the only calls I've gotten from you in the past week involved being either hung up on," Reid blushed. "Or being asked to do a background check on some guy who think's he's a wizard." Harry smiled. "Anyway, I didn't call to chew you out. I called to tell you that there is a major, and I mean seriously major thunderstorm headed right for you guys. You need to get underground, batton down the hatches, seriously, you guys need to-"

"What's the origin of the storm?" Harry asked, cutting her off.

"What- uhh, give me a sec." The faint clicking of keys could be heard on the other end of the line. "Well, that's really weird. The storm just appeared I guess."

"Where?"

"Uhh, there's a warehouse near Lake Michigan, it looks like it started there. But how is that-"

"I don't know who you are, but we have to go, and if I ever meet you, I just might have to kiss you." Dresden picked up the phone and snapped it close, tossing it to Derrick as he jogged out of the room.

It took him a second to realize that no one was following him.

"GUYS! SHE JUST GAVE US THE LOCATION OF THE BAD GUY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING JUST STANDING THERE!"

"Okay, we're probably going to need a SWAT team-" Hotch was cut off by Harry.

"No. This storm is a spell. Granted, I don't think it would've been that hard to pull off, but that doesn't mean it's any less destructive. We need to get on top of this _now. _As in, before the storm swallows up the greater area of Chicago. Which means leaving now. Look, leave JJ and Reid behind so they can get a team together, but _I _need to get there as soon as possible. I have to stop this."

Hotch looked at him for a second and took a deep breath. "Fine, but Reid, I want you with us."

"Wha- why?"

"You know who he is. We may have the profile, but you've been inside his head, just like he's been inside yours. You're the only one who can talk this guy off his ledge if he hasn't already gone over."

Reid just nodded. Hotch nodded back and turned to JJ. "Alright, JJ I need you to find out if any major roads go past this place, and if so block them. The last thing we need is civilians getting into this. Especially if it's going to be as bad as I think it's going to get.

"After you've got that done, we're going to need SWAT, not just a team, the whole thing. Murphy, how many of your guys can get out of here right now?"

When she didn't answer, Hotch turned around to see her rounding people up and making calls.

"Dresden, is there anyway you can tell us what to expect?" Hotch turned slightly to ask the tall wizard.

"This guy made himself an army, so we're probably going to have to get through that. Good news, they're really stupid, really, really stupid. He's not a powerful guy, otherwise he would have tried to attack me head on instead of dancing around it like he is. The only way he would be able to control such a massive force would be to give them a single command, probably something like destroy or kill.

"The really good news is that if you take out the wizard controlling these things, then the golems stop and crumble to dust."

"The bad news being that this _wizard _is probably going to be really hard to get to right?" Rossi asked.

"Actually, yeah. Not to mention that we'll be heading straight into the heart of one of the most vicious storms any of you have ever seen, and will be almost immediately overwhelmed by some seriously hard to kill clay monsters."

Prentiss paled.

"Yeah, so how are we supposed to kill these things?" Morgan asked his face going hard.

"Find the bone. Break it. Shatter it. Hells bells you could rip it out for all I care. It just needs to be damaged or gone. After that the golems connection to life will have been severed, and it'll fade to dust."

"And how are we supposed to know where the bone is?"

"Uhhh…." Morgan ground his teeth. If the wizard didn't know what he was doing, how the hell were they gonna get through this?

Prentiss cleared her throat. "If they're anything like what I saw at your apartment Harry, then the place where the bone is will be…. Well, they're disgusting. They look like they're made of grease and mud and… anyway, on the two we fought, there were clean parts. Just a single patch of clear, smooth black. Like obsidian. It might be nothing, but it's really all we've got to go on at this point."

"Works for me." Harry said, grinning down at her.

Murphy walked over and rejoined the group. "Kay, half of the office is lined up to go with us now and we've got at least five other guys waiting to meet us down there."

"Good deal." Harry nodded at the people around him. Aside from Murphy none of them had believed magic existed in the realm of possibility. In the past few hours their perceptions of reality had been ripped from them while they watched helplessly from the sidelines as those perceptions were spun, twisted, ripped apart, and put back together into something that must have been barely recognizable.

And now they were getting ready to go fight something they hadn't even believe could exist this morning.

There is a fine line between stupidity and bravery.

It took five minutes for the team to be ready to go. With feelings of apprehension, fear, and determination, the group loaded into their cars, and headed towards a fight.

**So….. Did I do this alright? I hope you guys liked it. Reviews please! Have a great day! **


	16. Chapter 16

**I'm sorry that this took me so long to get out! There's absolutely no excuse and I'm really really sorry. Anyway, I hope you guys like it. It might be kind of boring, but I was going for a calm before the storm type deal, so bear with me. Anyway, once again, I'm sorry for not getting this out to you guys sooner. But I would love some reviews. Oh, and BURN3, I wrote you a tiny surprise that I think you'll love. You know, 'cause it was your idea.**

* * *

Reid had done a great many things in his life. These accomplishments are made even more amazing when knowing that he had done most of these things at seemingly impossible ages.

But what Reid was about to do…. This was different than anything he'd ever done before. It wasn't going to matter how smart he was. None of the random miscellaneous facts running around in his head were going to be of any help right now.

They were about to go fight an army of over 1800 golems. Reid couldn't fight. He could barely shoot his gun. How on Earth was he supposed to be of any help in this situation?

But Hotch said they needed him. And Hotch usually had pretty good judgment. So Reid was going to trust him.

Lets hope it didn't get him killed.

* * *

The gravity of the situation hadn't really sunk in yet. Harry had never seen a group of people look so calm in the face of almost certain doom. Grim, somber, stoic even, but never calm. Even Murphy was a bit jittery. These people had no idea what they were getting into.

How on Earth could Harry rely on people who didn't grasp the gravity of the situation. This wasn't something routine. This was way beyond everything these people had ever done and now…. How was he supposed to protect all of them?

* * *

Hotch wasn't planning on dying.

He knew there was a good chance that he might. But he wasn't planning on it.

He was all Jack had left.

So dying wasn't really an option.

* * *

Rossi wasn't really sure at all of what to expect. It certainly wasn't monsters made of mud or golems or whatever. It wasn't a power hungry wizard with a thing for bones.

More than likely they would get to the warehouse, find some crazy guy with tattoos muttering over a pot, and then arrest him. There was no need for all this hype.

But then, why was Rossi so nervous?

* * *

Praying was something that Emily hadn't done for a very long time.

It had always seemed so clichéd and needy to her. And besides, God probably had other things to worry about like world hunger and all that stuff going down in the middle east. Why should He worry about someone who hadn't even talked to Him in over ten years?

It wasn't like she hadn't believed in Him. No, she just questioned Him. How could she not? She saw the most terrible things everyday. She dealt with the worst of the worst and had been scarred by the things she'd seen.

But today was different. This wasn't something she knew how to deal with. This wasn't a private feeling or emotion or nightmare. This was a stand against something that could kill them all.

These are the first words that Emily Prentiss said to God in over ten years.

'_I know that you don't really have any reason to listen to me, I've been kind of…. Ignoring you, maybe. But, now I'm asking, no I'm begging, please keep them safe. Please make sure that they get through this. They're my family now, and….. I don't know what I would do if anything happened to them. Please. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen._

* * *

"So, they're gone?" Garcia's voice said over the phone.

"Yeah." JJ replied.

"You just let them leave with some crazy guy who thinks he's a wizard to go to some warehouse in the middle of the worst storm Chicago's ever seen?"

"Garcia, I've answered yes to this question six times now."

"Yeah, I keep thinking that the answer's going to change."

"Me too." JJ sighed. "Just keep watching the radar and tell me if anything changes."

"You got. Hey JJ?"

"Yes Garcia?"

"They're gonna come back right?"

JJ smiled softly at the phone. "Yeah. They will." _I hope._

* * *

If he died here, Morgan was fairly certain that Garcia would find a way to bring him back from the dead so that she could kill him herself.

The thought made him smile, earning him a few wary looks from his colleagues. But, why shouldn't he smile? He might die today.

The thought of death wasn't really what scared Morgan or made him sad. It was when he thought of how other people might react. His mom, his sister, his team. That is, if any of them actually got out alive.

Wait, no scratch that. They _would _get out alive if he had anything to say about it. And since he did, then nothing was going to happen to them.

Let's hope it's that simple.

* * *

"Hey, we need to stop at my house." Harry said to Hotch, who was the driver of the car that they were in.

"Why?" Hotch asked, never taking his eyes from the road.

"I need to get my stuff."

"What stuff?"

"My magic stuff." Rossi snorted and Dresden stuck his tongue out at him.

Five minutes later Murphy and Dresden were in the apartment. After running down to his lab to grab a few things, Harry came up and handed Murphy a sword.

"Harry, I can't-"

"I'm not asking you to be a knight Murph, I'm asking you to just… use it. These people need our help and at least with this, I know we'll have a fighting chance."

Murphy sighed and wrapped her hand around the hilt of the katana. Then she smiled, and used the old cloth strap to hang it over her back.

Harry really didn't know what possessed him to take Amoracchius. Okay, maybe he had an idea of what possessed him but that didn't mean he had to approve. All the same, when it was time to head out for a second time, the broadsword was tucked away into it's very own duffel bag, ready for whatever it was about to get itself into.

* * *

They pulled up in an empty lot about half a mile away from the warehouse. The warehouse in question had long ago been reclaimed by the forest it had struggled to keep at bay. The thick and quickly darkening storm clouds overhead gave the whole thing a very horror movie kind of feel.

_Black guy always dies first, _thought Morgan somberly.

There were about thirty people there in all, including Murphy, Dresden, and the BAU.

Or should I say, thirty people and one dog? A little ways away from all the guys with police badges and bullet proof vests there was a barley older than teenage girl, a tall man with black hair and a dog.

Dresden went to stand by them, and everyone else followed.

"Molly, Thomas, this is the BAU. Their analyst helped me find this guy. Uh, BAU, this is Molly, my apprentice and Thomas…. An old friend. I hope you guys can get along."

"Boss, I really don't think we'll have much time to dislike each other what with the massive hordes of clay people that are about to attack us." Molly said sarcastically.

"They're called golems."

"Who cares?"

Harry sighed and glanced sidelong at Murphy who was watching the exchange with a slight smile on her face.

Hotch was just a little bit worried about this. He knew that his team would watch out for each other, and he knew that Dresden's team would watch out for each other. He did not know however, whether or not they would be able to integrate those efforts. Harry's group seemed to be much more experienced when it came to things like this. And while Hotch didn't necessarily want to know where they got their experience, he would like access to it.

Apparently, Harry could read his mind. "Alright guys," he said. "I've always been a big fan of the buddy system so whether you mind or not I'm planning on pairing you off. Thomas, I want you to stick with Hotch and Rossi, Molly, you're with Morgan, Murph hang with Prentiss, and Reid, you're with me and Mouse. I don't care whether you like it or not." He turned to the BAU. "I know that you have no idea what to expect in there and the fact that you've never faced a situation like this makes me all the more wary. "These guys," he gestured to his friends. "Know what they're doing to some extent. So listen to them. Whatever they say. Literally. Whatever. They. Say. Got it?"

Everyone nodded.

"Okay, so, let's get this show on the road."

* * *

They were coming.

It didn't matter.

They would die.

All of them.

And then the city would fall.

And the Wizard Dresden would know who was the greatest.

The King would make him watch as his friends and comrades fell, one by one.

Because the King was the best.

And now, everyone would know it.

* * *

They were halfway from the lot to the warehouse when they heard the voices.

The hissing, scraping, slimy sound that Harry and Emily found all too familiar.

They came out of the woods slowly. Their movements were robotic and awkward, and the slime and gunk that covered them dripped off as they came forward, coating the ground behind them.

It was enough to make Rossi a believer.

Dresden, who was at the front of the group, grabbed Reid's arm. "Okay, kid, we need to get to the warehouse. The best way to help everyone now is to take down the bad guy. And I have a feeling that you can help me do that."

Reid could only nod.

Harry turned back to the others and saw the same fierce kind of fear and determination on every one around him. Oddly enough, he also saw a large gray duffel bag slung over Emily's shoulder.

"Why do you have that?" He asked.

"You asked me to carry it."

"No I didn't."

"Are you sure? 'Cause I thought I heard you say 'Hey, grab that duffel bag, I'm pretty sure you're gonna need it.'"

Harry shook his head and looked up. "What happened to subtle?" He muttered. "Alright, Emily when and if you open that at some point today, just, make sure you're ready."

Not really sure what he meant, Emily smiled slightly in agreement.

He nodded back at her and then gave the entire company a tight smile. "We can do this. I've got faith in you all." And with that, he grabbed Reid's hand and started bounding through the woods with Mouse at his heels.

With a slight nod from Hotch and Thomas, everyone else plowed forward.

* * *

**So, what do you guys think? I would love reviews and again, I'm so sorry for how long this took me to get out. Next time, you can expect a seriously action packed chapter! But seriously, I need some reviews. Thanks, sorry again. Have an awesome day!**


	17. Chapter 17

Rossi was terrified.

This should not be happening.

These _things _were not coming at him.

They did not exist.

Dresden was not a wizard.

Except, it was. They were. They did. He was.

All of these thoughts were rushing through his head as he fought to stay balanced. To stay calm and strong in the face of these _monsters._

Wait. Monsters? Really? These things were terrifying and strange and almost certainly lethal. But they were not monsters.

Monsters were what he fought to catch everyday. Monsters hid under the guise of men, and scarred all who they came across. They weilded their twisted psyche's like sharp, serated knives. Cutting down all who opposed them.

Monsters killed children for the fun of it.

Monsters took his friends so that _he _could pay.

Monsters broke families apart and tore down anything and everything that someone had loved.

These things were not monsters.

And if Rossi could handle true monsters, then these guys shouldn't be all that hard to deal with.

Eyes hard and stance tight, Rossi raised his gun and shot the two golems making their way towards Hotch, watching with a grim satisfaction as they hardened, shuddered, and crumbled to dust.

Hotch nodded a curt thanks and slammed his gun on the head of one of them. His eyes widened a fraction and Rossi instinctively shot his elbow out. Feeling it connect with something, he spun around only to find a pile of dust at his feet.

"Lucky shot." he muttered.

Thomas came to stand between the two men, and with a sharp nod, the group made it's way through the field, looking for all the world like they'd been fighting together for ages.

They formed a tight triangle constantly watching each others backs. Hotch fought like a man who could NOT die, and despite every scratch, every bruise, every cracked rib, he didn't stop. And anyone could tell by looking at him that he wasn't planning on doing that anytime soon.

Rossi was erratic and still very unsettled, but he wasn't thinking about it. The only thing he was thinking about was the bodies around him, the enemies and the friendlies. The gun in his hands, and the fact that EVERY blow needed to be the fatal one, because he probably wouldn't get another shot.

Thomas fought as he always did; with an air of confidence and a feral grin that Rossi and Hotch were trying hard not to notice. They would ask him about the impossible speed and strength when he didn't look so... so much like the people that they put away.

* * *

Morgan's foot cracked down hard on one's foot. He smashed his elbow into what would've been anothers nose. The hilt of the machete that that Thomas guy had given him slammed into another one's chest. He reached over his shoulder, grabbed the arm of one and flipped it over him, then dug his heel into where it's throat would've been.

Aggression was no stranger to Morgan. Neither was violence. Growing up where he had, and how he had, meant that Morgan's rage bubbled easily to the surface, and honestly, he was kinda freaking Molly out.

He'd gotten into the fighting a little too quickly for her liking, but that was okay, she could work with that.

Figuring that a veil wasn't going to do her all that much good just then, Molly took out the small dagger that her father had given her and slipped next to Morgan.

"Kid, you should get outta here."

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much." she shot back.

"I'd rather not have your death on my hands."

"OMG! I feel the same way!"

"Look, this isn't a gam-"

"How many magic fights have you been in? Granted, I haven't been in that many either. But I've been in more than you, and maybe if you had an oppurtunity to pay attention, you would see that I've got as much dust blowing in my face as you. "

They didn't talk after that. They just fought, hard.

* * *

When Prentiss took out the sword, everything else kind of faded away. The blade felt like an extension of her arm. The only thing that she really registered was that Murphy was fighting with a sword too.

There was a cirlce of ground that the golems were hesitant to step into. It was a near perfect ring of gray dust, swirling through the air aided by two shining, swinging swords bright with light. The women weilding them practically glowed with power, fighting for what they loved, fighting for something they cared about, fighting for something beyond themselves.

They were not angles.

They were not warriors.

But they were strong, and they would fight until the ones they loved were safe.

And that was all there was to it.

* * *

Reid felt terrible leaving his friends like that.

Leaving them to bear the brunt of the conflict felt shallow and terrible, but at the same time, there was a part of her that understood why this was necessary.

Didn't mean he had to like it.

Not that he, Dresden, and the dog weren't seeing any action. A few straggling golems had been left to gaurd the warehouse that Richard was holed up in.

Fireballs, teeth, and a few well aimed gunshot had taken care of them without much difficulty, and now, according to Dresden, came the hard part.

"I need you to talk to him. To distract him while I dismantle the spell. It's not anything difficult, so it shouldn't take to long to break apart."

"And when you're done with that, will the golems disappear?"

"Yeah, they will."

Reid was silent for a minute, and Harry knew that there was something on his mind.

"Do you think they'll be ok?" he asked.

"Yeah. I do actually." and Reid was pretty sure that he wasn't lying. Only pretty sure, because the good doctor had never gotten a chance to profile a 'wizard' before.

The warehouse stood gaunt and derelect against and ever darkening sky. The wind had grown cold, and when they reached the tall, rotting wooden doors of the building, the first, fat, heavy drops of rain were beginning to fall.

They slipped through the halfway open doors as quietly as possible. A part a Dresden knew that stealth wasn't going to do them much good at this point, but any advantage that they could get would be worth it.

They could see the man who must've been Richard, his back to them, sitting in a straightbacked chair and chanting slowly over a faintly glowing pit.

Reid raised his gun, and, at a nod from Harry, slowly began to move forward.

"Richard Roebin, my name is Spencer Reid, and you are under arrest."

"Ahhhh." came the soft reply. "The worm that tricked me. How nice to see you again, and in the flesh too! What an occasion." He let out a deep, unsettling chuckle that sent Reid's neves on edge.

"Mr. Roebin, I need you to step away from the pit and come towards me-" Without any warning, without flair, without any comment at all, The King plunged a dagger into his heart, and ended his life.


End file.
